Project Overview

In this project, we aimed to create a space where travel managers could navigate through the intricacies of travel plans with ease, all while ensuring the backend development process was streamlined for efficiency. Our mission was to make the complicated simple, transforming the daunting task of policy creation into an intuitive, enjoyable process while using minimal resources.

The Challenge

Picture the cumbersome task where travel managers had to manually verify each employee's flight booking against the company's detailed travel policies. This tedious process was slow, prone to errors, and frustrating for both managers and employees, who were left waiting for approval.

Our challenge was clear: transform this unwieldy process into a streamlined, empowering experience. We aimed to illuminate the path for employees, making policy-compliant travel options visible and accessible without the need for a travel manager's intervention. By doing so, we hoped to democratize the booking process, granting employees the freedom to make policy-aligned choices independently, while simultaneously lightening the travel managers' load.

This shift required transitioning from manual oversight that was taken entirely on by travel managers to automated, intuitive guidance within our platform. With this change, we ensured that compliance became a shared responsibility, empowering all stakeholders rather than placing the burden solely on gatekeepers.

Discovery and Insights

My journey began with a deep dive into the world of advanced filtering. Inspired by a fascinating article from pencilandpaper.io, I learned about the power of additive formulas. These formulas allow users to layer criteria upon criteria, creating a rich tapestry of options that can cater to any need. This approach was a game-changer, enabling us to design a system where travel managers could mix and match conditions to build the perfect travel policy.

We focused on three main components:

• Identifiers: The building blocks, like cost and destinations, that form the core of any policy.
• Relatives: The connectors, such as 'greater than' or 'contains,' that link identifiers to values.
• Values: The specifics, ensuring policies are precisely tailored to company needs.

This trifecta was our golden ticket to creating a user interface that could effortlessly handle multiple conditions, making complex policy creation a breeze for travel managers.

Crafting the Solution

Our eureka moment came when we decided to emulate the sophisticated, formula-based filtering systems seen in platforms like Notion and Airtable. This enabled us to introduce a logical, sentence-based interface that made navigating complex criteria as easy as pie. Our solution was designed with the user in mind, incorporating features like:

• Fare Price Controls: To avoid eye-watering ticket prices.
• Flight Duration Restrictions: Because time is money, and longer isn't always better.
• Ticket Class Filters: Keeping travel comfortable without breaking the bank.
• Destination Specifications: Ensuring trips align with company goals.

Through sketches, prototypes, and continuous collaboration, we crafted a tool that was flexible enough for any policy need, from global guidelines to individual preferences.

Realizing the Value

This project was a win-win on multiple fronts:

• For Travel Managers: Simplifying policy creation meant saving time and reducing stress, leading to better control over travel expenses and happier employees.
• For ORX Travel Platforms: Our platform emerged as a beacon of innovation in travel management, providing us with the opportunity to define the industry’s standards for user engagement in travel.

UI Design Streamlining for Development Efficiency

In redesigning the dashboard, our attention was not solely on aesthetic enhancements but also on improving our internal development processes. We realized that the integration of sophisticated, formula-based filtering could not only innovate our service offering but also simplify the backend development, aligning more closely with our overarching narrative of innovation and simplification.

While implementing these advanced filters, we recognized the need for a consistent and scalable UI framework to support this functionality. Thus, we incorporated elements of Material UI to ensure a seamless and efficient design-to-development transition. This approach enabled us to maintain a clear focus on our core innovation—advanced filtering—while also ensuring that the backend structure supported these features effectively.

By refining our UI design strategy, we not only improved the user interface for travel managers but also established a more streamlined and coherent development workflow. This strategy ensured that our innovative approach to filtering was supported by an equally robust and efficient development process, demonstrating our commitment to innovation at every level of the project.

The Solution

To simplify the complexity of generating filters for the persona of a travel manager, we figured it would be best if we made the logic based on which identifier a travel manager selected; that way, we could make the logic easier to understand with the use of proper sentences alongside the drop-downs. The identifiers we found would be the most used would be:

• Fare Price: For Fare, we wanted travel managers to be able to create a multiplier so that users couldn’t book overly expensive tickets.
• Flight Duration: For Flight duration, we wanted to make sure that users weren’t making bookings based on collecting the greatest amount of points.
• Ticket Class: Giving users the ability to create filters based on ticket class would allow travel managers to create the simplest filter possible (one based almost entirely on if a user is flying economy, premium, or business.)
• End Destination: Destination allows travel managers to restrict users from booking in specific areas or not booking in particular areas.

My Insights and Conclusion

In our exploration of the ORX Travel Platforms policy builder, we ventured beyond the conventional boundaries of our industry to source innovative solutions that could be adapted to our unique context. This case study underscores the value of seeking inspiration from diverse fields, demonstrating how external insights can drive internal innovation. Our journey illuminated the benefits of adopting advanced, cross-industry filtering techniques, empowering us to craft a more intuitive and powerful tool for travel managers.

While the narrative of iterative design and broad resource management discussions were less pronounced, the essence of our story revolves around this cross-pollination of ideas. We adapted complex, formula-based filtering systems—traditionally seen in sectors outside of ours—to redefine how travel policies could be managed and implemented, ensuring a blend of sophistication and user accessibility.